VISTA -- The widow of an Irvine man killed after his golf cart plunged down a steep rocky hillside at Pala Mesa Resort was awarded nearly $2 million by a North County jury last week, the widow's attorney said Monday.

Edwin Payne, 65, was halfway through a round of golf when he lost control of his cart on May 22, 2007. It went over a curb and plummeted down an 80-foot cliff, attorney Ronald Schwartz said. Payne was thrown onto the southbound lane of Old Highway 395.

On Thursday, a jury found Pala Mesa Resort negligent in use or maintenance of the property, and awarded Clara Payne $483,426 in economic damages, including financial support lost when her husband died.

The panel also awarded $1.5 million to the widow for noneconomic damages, including loss of love and companionship.

The jury found that Payne was 30 percent to blame, the resort was 70 percent responsible for the accident. Thus, Pala Mesa must pay 70 percent -- more than $1.3 million -- of the total award, Schwartz said.

Schwartz said his client "was very grateful to the jury."

"She felt that they understood this death could have been prevented," he said.

Pala Mesa's general manager declined to comment late Monday afternoon, and the attorney representing the resort at trial could not be immediately reached for comment.